Customer Reviews

The Other Side of the Story: A Novel

5 star:		(163)
4 star:		(71)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I loved this book. I have read all of Marian's books and this was one of my favorites. I really felt like I knew these people by the end of the book and I couldn't wait to see how their story lines would be resolved. I enjoyed the format of the book - with several chapters at a time devoted to each character.

Marian, if you read the reviews (like Lily did...) way to go. I loved this book and have already recommended it to all of my friends.

Marian Keyes' latest is a true gem which transports the reader to the thirty-something singles life of Dublin and London. With empathy and humor she tells the story of very believable women whose lives intertwine.

Gemma Hogan is a Special Events Planner in Dublin. She has recently lost the love of her life, and to make matters even more unbearable, said love is now happily ensconced with her former best friend Lily and the child they have together. Gemma seems to have enough heartbreak, but now her father has left her mother for his secretary, and Lily has not only captured Gemma's boyfriend but has written a best-selling novel, something Gemma has always wanted to do.

Meanwhile, Lily is not only wracked with guilt over the aforementioned theft of affections, but also having trouble coping with a non-working mate and the lack of money they must exist on. Child-care mishaps and a second novel that is more of an embarrassment than a bestseller add more pressure to Lily's life.

Jojo Harvey, a Jessica-Rabbit clone, enters the picture as the literary agent who represents Lily. But Jojo the dynamic businesswoman is also Jojo the homewrecker as she guiltily pursues a relationship with her very-married boss.

Add one more catalyst in the form of Susan, former best friend of both Gemma and Lily, who has moved to Seattle, Washington. Susan becomes Gemma's sounding board via email and is privvy to the intimate details of Gemma's disheveled life, her desperately needy mom, her non-boyfriend, and a certain chemist who fills prescription after prescription for her. Susan thinks the emails are so interesting to read that she wants to share them. Taking a calculated risk, she sends them to Jojo Harvey who agrees they would make a great book.

It's a merry-go-round of emotions with revenge, rejection, and disappointment having their day along with all the accompanying pandemonium of this inside look into the life of writers, editors, and publishers. It's Marian Keyes doing what she does best---telling a contemporary tale with all the humor and sadness that fills life. This is believable fiction that will appeal to everyone....except perhaps Mr. Burt Reynolds who does not fare too well in this one.

I don't know how, but Marian Keyes always manages to write something that is at at once funny, wise, insightful, and fun to read. Her books look like that favorite sterotype of reviewers, "Chicklit," but they're about much more (and they're much better!) than the skinny cartoon girls on their covers suggest. Keyes's characters are real, her stories inventive, and even when the ending wraps up in far *too* happy a manner, it doesn't make the book any less of a good experience.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY has all the winning ingredients, and I'm happy to say it mixes them up well and combines them into yet another great read. The inside look at publishing is hilarious, and very enlightening for anyone who has ever wondered what it would take to get their work in the local bookstore! The Lily-Gemma-Anton triangle is well done and the resolution -- though it seems lacking at first -- is very realistic. Jojo is a superbly written character, and her relationship with her married boss (and his relationship to his wife) is explored with great sensitivity to all the complex issues it creates.

Since the first 100+ pages were about Gemma, and the next Jojo, and the next Lily, I didn't understand at first how they would all fit together in one story; the relationships between them didn't seem strong enough for that sort of split style. I should have known, though: Marian Keyes pulls it off every time. Read it and see for yourself.

If you're looking for a great beach read ~~ this one is it! Just be sure to have enough suntan/sunscreen lotion nearby because once you open the first page, you won't be able to put it down!

There is JoJo, a literary agent/ex-policewoman. There is Gemma, a party planner in Ireland and there's Lily who Gemma claims that she "stole" her true love from. JoJo is the common denominator between the three characters ~~ she is Lily's agent and who got her first book to sell. Then Gemma's best friend sent JoJo her emails ~~ the ones Gemma wrote after her dad left her mom. All three of them falls in love and their love lives are just as interesting as their literary lives. And this is the story of three women over the course of a single year.

It's funny and sweet, nice and comfy and just a perfect Keyes book as to be expected! I can honestly say that I have read every single one of her books and love them all. She's one of my absolute favorite authors!

This is a not-to-be-missed read of the summer! Pick it up and have fun reading!

4-19-04

Although the length of this book was initially intimidating, I couldn't put it down! It's fun, witty and hugely readable. The plot is tight and kept me entertained throughout the almost 700 pages. It's a must read!

Gemma Hogan's life was cruising along nicely until her father suddenly up and left her mother after decades of marriage. Hogan, who works a high-pressure job as a party planner in Dublin, Ireland, now has to move into her mom's house to console the hysterical woman. Gemma's furious at her father, especially considering he left for a younger woman who works with him at the candy factory. It's not as though Hogan doesn't have enough to worry about already; her old boyfriend Anton ditched her for her best friend Lily a few years ago, and promptly fathered a child with the woman. As the months slip by and her father fails to return, Gemma wonders if her life will ever assume a semblance of normality again. When she isn't popping in at the local chemist's shop to fill a prescription for her mom, she fires off hilarious e-mails to a friend in the United States, railing about her miserable existence. Eventually, this pal, impressed by the e-mails, forwards them to a literary agent named JoJo Harvey, an American working at the Lipman Haigh Agency in London.

JoJo Harvey is a piece of work in her own right, a woman with even more moral dilemmas than Gemma Hogan. A former New York City cop turned literary agent in England, Harvey looks like Jessica Rabbit with a dog eat dog attitude. She wants a partnership in the firm so bad she's willing to do almost anything to get it, including engaging in an intimate relationship with her boss. This firecracker spends most of her time battling fellow up and comer Ritchie Gant for the position when she isn't trying to scrape up best-selling manuscripts. Harvey's raking in the bread for the company, but still worries she won't get the job. She often heads over to her cousin's place to whine about her myriad problems. JoJo will have to really hustle if she wishes to realize her career goals because in a man's world a woman can't be too careful. Fortunately for Harvey, one of her client's books, written by Gemma Hogan's ex-friend Lily Wright, just hit the bestseller list.

Lily Wright is the polar opposite of the whimsical Gemma and the hard driving JoJo. Here's a woman weighted down with insecurities. She worries incessantly about writing a follow-up to her popular book. Her husband Anton and daughter Ema worry her, too. Wright thinks Anton might leave her at the drop of a hat. And the guilt over taking Anton away from Gemma burns a hole in Lily's stomach even now, years after it happened. Life is about to get a whole lot worse, though, when her husband convinces Lily to buy an expensive but run down house for the family. The money to pay for their new abode, argues Anton, will come in when Lily writes her next bestseller. Predictably, a bad case of writer's block, exacerbated by the nightmarish (and amazingly expensive) experience of restoring an old home, dooms Wright's chances of attaining her dream life. In a desperate bid to meet the deadline for her next novel, Lily gives JoJo a novel she wrote before she became famous. The book tanks, and Wright's personal life tanks along with it. Bad reviews for a writer, apparently, translate into a serious case of depression.

"The Other Side of the Story" is a wonderful novel, one of the best I have read in the last few years. This admission is a rather painful one to make for a reader who usually spends his time perusing graphic horror novels. Chick lit simply isn't in my vocabulary. In fact, Marian Keyes's novel is the first book I have ever read from this genre. Surprisingly, nearly everything about this story is divine, from the razor sharp characterization to the broad humor to the atmosphere. I can't remember the last time I read a book where, when I finished it, I could actually see the characters as if they stood before my eyes as fully realized individuals. Did I mention that the narrative shifts between Gemma, JoJo, and Lily until the end, when Keyes brings the three characters' separate plotlines together through a series of intriguing twists and turns? The author carries it all off with ease. There are writers and then there are WRITERS, and Marian Keyes is a talent not to be missed by those who appreciate a great read.

The problems I had with "The Other Side of the Story" were relatively minor. I was a little irked over JoJo Harvey at first. There's an exchange in the Harvey narrative where the agent strikes a huge deal for a new novelist, turning a seemingly dead project into a huge payoff. This part of the book felt forced, as though Keyes was trying to convince us how great JoJo was at her job when it was really an example of luck. I also thought Harvey was a little too over the top for my tastes, but she grew on me after awhile. I never tired of Gemma Hogan (my favorite character) or Lily Wright. After reading about half the book, I realized Keyes was actualizing three separate aspects of the ideal female personality: Gemma Hogan is the style maven with a great sense of humor. Lily Wright is the sensitive maternal figure. And JoJo Harvey is the new career woman who uses her good looks and intelligence to conquer the business world. For all I know, these three women represent aspects of Keyes's own personality. They simply must-no one could write so convincingly unless they personally possessed these traits. No matter whether you are a man or a woman, you will love this book if you like well written novels.

I was very excited that Marian Keyes was coming out with a new book. I loved Lucy Sullivan, One Chance Saloon, Sushi for Beginners and, to a lesser extent, Watermelon. However, I found this one disappointing and a bit boring. I never felt emotionally attached to any of the characters, which with Keyes past books I had. I liked Gemma in the beginning, but by the end was sick of her. Lily was way to whinny and her and Anton's love at first sight was just too neat to justify the situation. Jojo's relationship problems just dragged on for too long that by the time the inevitable happened, I didn't care. Overall, that was probably my biggest problem with this book, everything was too prolonged, I would have liked to see more action.

On the plus side, Keyes did do a wonderful job of interweaving the main characters' stories. Even though I was disappointed with this book, I was still able to get through it relatively quickly, which is a testament to Keyes terrific writing style.

I've liked all of Marian Keyes' books, but I loved this one so much I tore through it in a day. At first the shifting perspectives bothered me, but soon I grew to love all three characters, and genuinely cared about what happened to them.

Keyes does a truly excellent job of weaving together their stories. There is never the event I was dreading - some major calamity that brings them all together into some enormous brawl. Instead, the intersections and parallels of their lives are far more subtle, and their highs and lows are nicely timed with each other's.

It's nice to see that sometimes chick lit can be truly intelligent.

Once again, another book that you can't put down. I tore through it in two days. Any book from Marian Keyes is guaranteed an excellent read and I admit that I have been addicted to her books since accidentally coming accross "Watermelon" in a library one day.

If you can only do one thing for yourself this spring, read this book. I called in sick to finish it! Seriously, Keyes' wicked humor and fresh characters had me spellbound from the first chapter. I usually consider novels of this sort as "frivolous" and "fun" reading and put them off for vacations and the like. Forget that! This is a HAVE to of 2004.